I did my internship in internal medicine in Uster, a small town near Zürich in Switzerland. Having heard a lot about the work and teaching in hospitals in Switzerland,I decided to see for myself how it is working in a Swiss hospital. My experience was very positive, and I gained valuable insights and practical knowledge.

Work Environment and Teaching
The doctors and hospital staff are all very welcoming and are really up to teaching. I could always ask questions, and everybody was happy to answer them. Even the senior and more experienced doctors were approachable and even introduced themselves by their first name, which is something I didn‘t always experience in Germany.

Experience in the Emergency Department
Most of my internship was spent in the emergency department. Here I was either working the morning shift from 07:30-15:30 or the afternoon shift from 15:00-22:30. The emergency department was interdisciplinary meaning that patients with surgical but also internal medicine problems could present themselves. This setup was very good for learning, as it exposed me to a variety of cases. The doctors allowed me to accompany them to patient consultations or let me do the anamnesis and the physical examination by myself. I helped type all the reports and could always discuss my ideas about the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment plans for the patients. Sometimes I was even allowed to treat a patient completely by myself. All of this gave me a lot of possibilities to learn and to practice my handling and communication skills with patients.

Overall Experience and Recommendations
I can really recommend doing an internship at the hospital in Uster. The combination of a supportive learning environment and the opportunity to actively participate in patient care made it an enriching experience.
Beyond the hospital, Uster’s proximity to Zürich and the relatively small size of Switzerland made it easy to explore the country during my free time. Whether visiting Zürich, hiking in the mountains, or experiencing Swiss cuisine and culture, there was always something to do.
Overall, my internship in Uster was an incredibly valuable experience that provided me with both professional growth and personal enrichment.